"The Zionist regime has sent a letter to the U.N. saying that the presence of Iranian and Lebanese ships in the Gaza area will be considered a declaration of war on that regime and it will react to it." And apparently Iran doesn't want war -- yet.
"Iran will not send aid ship to Gaza," from CNN, June 24 (thanks to Benedict):
Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Iran will not send a ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza as it had planned to do on Thursday, according to a report from the official news agency of Iran.The Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Hossein Sheikholeslam, secretary-general of the International Conference for the Support of the Palestinian Intifada, as saying: "The Iranian ship carrying humanitarian aid will not go to Gaza."
IRNA said that Sheikholeslam told reporters in the northern city of Rasht that the ship had originally been scheduled to depart for Gaza on Thursday, but that its departure was postponed until Sunday because of restrictions imposed by Israel.
He added that officials then decided instead to cancel the trip altogether, shipping to Gaza the goods by other means, IRNA said.
"The Zionist regime has made helping the people of Gaza, who are under siege, a political issue and we do not wish to politicize this kind of humanitarian aid because first and foremost we want the siege of Gaza to be broken," he said, according to the news agency. "The Zionist regime has sent a letter to the U.N. saying that the presence of Iranian and Lebanese ships in the Gaza area will be considered a declaration of war on that regime and it will react to it."
He added: "In order to deprive the Zionist regime of any excuse, the aid collected for the oppressed people of Gaza will be delivered to them by other means without mentioning the name of Iran."
In a posting on the Israel Defense Forces website, the chief of the general staff said Israel has "a natural right to inspect and to prevent the flow of weapons into the Gaza Strip."...
"He added: "In order to deprive the Zionist regime of any excuse, the aid collected for the oppressed people of Gaza will be delivered to them by other means without mentioning the name of Iran."
like peacefully docking at authorized ports of inspection and having the aid trucked in over authorized land routes?...
Hamas has refused the aid when this has been tried....
"Hey guys, Kings-X, while we finish-up on our nukes, OK? We'll get back to you..."
Iran blinks, will not send "aid ship" to Gaza
............
One bit of good news, at any rate.
Of course, the "Society for the Defence of the Palestinian Nation" claims they have no official ties to Iran—yeah, right.
This isn't the first time Iran has tried this—they sent a ship full of "aid to Gaza" 'round in January of last year, but they were turned away—and not by the "perfidious Jews", but by Egypt, which wouldn't let them unload.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/20106159550707221.html
I actually wouldn't be surprised if it was Egypt which scuttled this foray, as well—since any vessel coming from Iran would have to pass through hundreds of miles of Egyptian-controlled water.
Egypt is no friend of Israel, but I don't think they want to deal with this crap, either.
"I actually wouldn't be surprised if it was Egypt which scuttled this foray"
Egypt, maybe, but my guess would be Saudi Arabia. There have been reports of Israeli jets in Saudi airspace. Rehearsing, perhaps?
That is how it is done!
Islamists will only respond to firm promises of force and will become more aggressive with ANY appeasement! If Iranian ships enter the blockade zone then they should be sunk without warning!
Yes, and then claim you didn't do it, like North Korea.
Putting ones foot down has its benefits.
Arab/Muslim nations tend to become active when they think they have the upper hand or that the infidel/Zionist will back down. Smack them, or say you will smack them, and they will invariably retreat to claim victory.
As others have said, even with immense wealth and political influence, they are basically a bunch of cowards in the face of strength that turn bully at the first sign of weakness.
Great comment George,
With the Quran and Sunnah of Mad Moe’s Islam as their guild, Ahmadinejad and the Islamic regime of Iran should be considered about as trustworthy as is Barack Hussein Obama the politician.
http://www.considerationsofacanadianex-muslim.org
Sorry OT ...
More recent news out of Iran!
"In a rare move, Iran has declared a state of war on its northwestern border, debkafile's military and Iranian sources report."
"Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps men and equipment units are being massed in the Caspian Sea region against what Tehran claims are US and Israeli forces concentrated on army and air bases in Azerbaijan ready to strike Iran's nuclear facilities."
"The announcement came on Tuesday, June 22 from Brig.-Gen Mehdi Moini of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), commander of the forces tasked with "repelling" this American-Israeli offensive. He said: "The mobilization is due to the presence of American and Israeli forces on the western border," adding, "Reinforcements are being dispatched to West Azerbaijan Province because some western countries are fueling ethnic conflicts to destabilize the situation in the region."
Excerpt:
http://www.debka.com/article/8868/
I think you may be right, George.
Some component, like the polonium initiators, isn't ready yet.
Confucius (or one of his descendants, or an English guest in China), say:
“If politeness and ceremony be observed toward Mohammedans,
"they imagine they are feared and become arrogant;
"but in showing severity and rudeness,
"they are impressed with fear and respect, and they are supple and manageable.”
--North China Herald,1867 {note: Muslims in China were attempting Jihad around that time - dda}.
Found, and shared for the first time here at jihadwatch by: unicorns62000 at January 16, 2005 4:30 AM
Maybe one of our Israeli Jewish posters or lurkers can translate this dictum into Hebrew and set it circulating in Israel.
It deserves to be learned by heart by *all* non-Muslim diplomats, law enforcement personnel and defence personnel who operate on that dangerous interface where dar al Harb encounters dar al Islam.
Of course, 'showing severity and rudeness' does not merely mean saying NO loud and clear, over and over, whenever Muslims whine, threaten, flatter and make demands; it also means being able and willing to back up the NO with a great big stick.
An Emily Litella moment for the Mullahs.
nabi ZK (pbum)
darn....send the ships you wimps lol
dang.....send the ships you wimps lol
There is one way, and one way only to deal with Iran and all the other Jihadists...FORCE.
“As the essential principle of his [Muhammad’s] faith is the subjugation of others by the sword; it is only by force, that his false doctrines can be dispelled, and his power annihilated.” John Quincy Adams, writing in about 1829
http://crossmuslims.blogspot.com/
According to the first Danish news on the subject this morning, the Israelis have softened their tough stance and are more willing to let aid go through. Therefore the Iranians need not send the aid ship.
"Therefore the Iranians need not send the aid ship." Only one ship? I thought they cared so much. The Iranians? Which ones? The f++ked up ones who lost the election?
Now we get to see if Washington has learned anything from this.
In the history of Islamic conquest, only 2 means have ever worked for them: overwhelming numerical advantage or a sucker-punch sneak attack. Although Iran has a larger population than Israel, distance and technology mean that that can't be leveraged, leaving only the sneak attack/sucker punch. Since the element of surprise was lost, the Mo's, ever conscious of self-preservation, will wait to attack another day.
Clever--even if Kong Zi had been dead for about a millenium when Muhammad came along. If we need to quote Chinese sages, though, I think these days call for a Sun Zi rather than Kong Zi.
You mean that an Iranian ship could sail that far without sinking?
Like a predator, Iran is stalking their prey (Israel). This time something scared them off but the Iranian jackals will be back.
This despite the help the Iranian Islamo-Nazi Reich gets from the UN, and from its lowly groupies in Sweden, Norway, England, Ireland and the US.
Israel is the only deterrent to the Reich who is about to go nuclear. The West must find the guts to at least stand firmly beside Israel and let it take on Iran, before it is too late.
Ruslan Tokhchukov, EnragedSince1999.
Israel responded appropriately by informing Iran that it would consider their actions to constitute an act of war.
The same message needs to be sent to Erdogan in Turkey.
Champ, I've been following this news for a while, too. So far it hasn't broken out into the MSM, but something is definitely afoot.
There's more background info about NATO's presence in Azerbaijan at http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=5322
If the terror abettors return, I hope Israel will kick their asses...
Oh, I'm aware of that.
I was using 'Confucius say' as a semi-humorous indicator of 'Chinese wisdom'. After all, the very sensible observation I then cited was, if the source reference is correct, written by someone - whether Chinese or English - in 1867.
humpf....probably wasn't much in way of "aid" on the ship anyway...Muslims are not known for helping each other out with medicine, food, and water.....now guns, explosives and rockets is an entirely different story...